Art Shanty Projects 2026

One of our favorite winter events is coming up: the annual Art Shanty Projects taking place on Bde Unma / Lake Harriet. 

Something we all look forward to are the annual Art Shanty Projects. Each year offers something unique, fun and interesting to break up the cold and dull winter. The Art Shanty Projects have been happening for several years now, except for a brief break during Covid.

The Art Shanty Village on the lake really is something for all ages.  It’s a great opportunity to check out some of the most amazing creativity and even more fun that it’s outdoors out on a frozen lake!

This year the Shantys are scheduled to be open weekends January 17th to February 8th, 2026. But as you know weather can change and if it gets too warm outside the Shantys will close early.

We’ve been to the Art Shanty Projects at least four different years and each time loved it.  Although there is a suggested donation of $10-20 per person, nobody will be turned away. The temporary village on the ice is really something you just need to experience first hand. Each individual Shanty has its own story, brought to life in an interactive artistic form. 

Tips for Visiting the Art Shanty Projects

A few tips and helpful hints if you decide to visit the Art Shanty Projects:

• Dress warm, layers if possible.  You’ll be on a lake and sometimes the wind is very different than what you think it will be.
• Suggested donation is $10-20. No one turned away! All are welcome.
• Wear comfortable but yet warm boots.  Again you will be on the ice, but also walking around.  This is MN, this is winter.
• There will be food trucks each weekend however they kindly ask To keep the water clean, we request that all food and beverages be consumed on shore and not be taken into the shanty village.
• Keep an open mind.  There’s a list of the Shanties and it gives a description for each one.  We decided to be surprised with some of them and did not read anything, just walked up and enjoyed each one for what it was. Sort of like “What’s behind door #1”.
• GO and HAVE FUN.  It really is something everyone in MN needs to experience.

Additional information about the Art Shanty Projects:

Art Shanty Projects transforms a frozen lake surface into a creative community space that is part art gallery, part art residency and part social experiment.

Thousands of people are drawn to the outdoor event during a time of year when weather often keeps residents isolated.

The unpredictable wind-swept, snow-covered location challenges artists to generate platforms for unique experiences while contending with natural and human elements.

Past shanty artists have elicited public interactions around such varied activities and inspirations as stress-relieving practices in a geodesic dome, curling competitions, lively debate forums and soap-box proclamations, kinesthetic pedal-powered polar bear puppet rides, a life-sized music box, a giant zoetrope, and an imaginative elevator ride. Artist-audience interactions have become integral to the project’s mission.

In addition to the interactive multidisciplinary component of the shanties, programs of performance art happen throughout the four weekends of the festival. This work takes the form of multiple, smaller performances and interactions that are not necessarily tied to a particular shanty, sometimes take place within a structure, and sometimes happen in and among the visitors walking on ice.

Past programming has included creation of a living snow globe, ‘snowga’ (yoga in snowsuits), spontaneous a cappella singing on the ice and art car parades.

If you like to plan, check out the schedule for each day on their website.